I grew up in central New Jersey just a few miles away from Bruce. He is a couple of years older then me. My friends and I made a point of it to go wherever he was playing at the Jersey shore even years before his first record was released in 1973. To borrow one of his song titles, he was a local hero even back then. He started as a bar band playing mostly covers and evolved magnificently over the years. The reason for his widespread appeal and tremendous fan devotion is that his tremendous insight as a poet and lyricist applies to almost everyone everywhere.This is Bruce's magic. His insights and perceptions are basically universal. Whatever he is singing about can probably be transposed to some event or memory of your life. Bruce is speaking to you! All the time. A few don't get it, but that is their loss. If you take the time and make the effort to get to know his music, you will be forever changed.This is why Bruce has stayed on top for 40 years. Few have ever possessed his marvelous combination of gifts. His exceptional poetic/lyrical skill, his ability to conceptualize and commit to paper these magnificent musical compositions he has created, his impeccable musicianship, his incredible showmanship, and particularly evolved over the decades, his vocalization skills. Bruce had the talent. So have many others. He had the work ethic. And he had the vision. This is what has set him apart. Put him at the very top of the pile. Hard work, tremendous talent, and always looking ahead. He has never been satisfied to rest on his considerable laurels. He is consistently driven to do even better. He has won Grammys, an Oscar, humanitarian awards, Kennedy Center Honors, and most every accolade out there. He appeals to not just a few, but to most. And intensely!I remember the release of The River, his fifth studio album, in 1980. I believe this was was a transformational period for him personally, and whatever was going on inside him allowed him to produce some of his finest work. These same songs are here, plus much more. They have all been meticulously remastered, however, and now sound better than they ever have. This is truly remarkable in this age of digital music overcompression, and clearly shows just what a labor of love this was on Bruce's part.My favorites are The River, Hungry Heart, Point Blank, and Fade Away, but there are a total of 52 superb recordings on these 4 CDs that continue some of the stories he has told before, and he also starts some new ones. His writing is heartfelt and masterful. 10 of these songs were never previously released. Some others are alternate versions of previously released material. But all are painstakingly remastered. The sonic quality is outstanding. This is not your all too typical re-release of old material in time for the holiday buying season. Rather, this is Bruce's holiday gift to his legions of die hard fans.Rolling Stone Magazine has ranked The River as the 250th greatest album ever recorded. Add the 32 songs that were not on the double album River release, plus the excellent quality material on the 2 Blu-rays, and I bet the ranking of this material would move up quite a bit from # 250.I have seen some on here complain about the high price ($99), or the relatively few previously unreleased recordings (10). But there's a lot more to this Collection than that. The video of the Tempe live show allows the viewer to almost experience the thrill that is a Bruce live show. And The River tour was one of the best tours to experience all that is a Bruce live show. And there is the Blu-ray with The Ties That Bind documentary. Very illuminating for even the long time Bruce fan. And the beautiful, magnificently done, coffee table book containing hundreds of never before seen photos of Bruce and band from the River era.This Collection is not simply meant to be a re-presentation of The River 35 years later. Rather, this is an immersive experience one of the greats of our time has offered to us to provide insights into his creations and his creative process. It is a very personal,very revealing, fairly detailed examination into one of the prime creations of one of the greatest performers of our time.Thank you Bruce! And Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays to you, too. Thanks for the memories.